There is a Buddhist axiom about Crazy Wisdom. Sometimes from standing on the edge and staring into the abyss, there is a moment of clarity and understanding.
From this place, catharsis can occur, new muscles can flex and the bearer can find themselves able to carve wholly new paths that heretofore were sight unseen.
What brings me to this sensibility are two articles. One, a post written by my friend, Om Malik (of GigaOM), codifying lessons learned in the past 90 days since his heart attack.
The other, a recent article by Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, who is dying of pancreatic cancer. The article summarizes his ‘final lecture’ about what really matters in life.
Hopefully, none of us will have to find ourselves on such a finite dead-end road before we get clarity on what matters to us most in life; but, with that perspective in mind, put yourself in Randy’s shoes for a moment, and consider what HE considers the indispensable truths of life.
(The video from the lecture is below this summary, and a link to the full article is HERE.)
Always Have Fun
I came to an early realization. Each of us must make a decision, best captured in A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh characters. Am I a fun-loving Tigger or a sad-sack Eeyore? It’s clear where I stand.
Dream Big
Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids’ dreams too. Once in a while, that might even mean letting them stay up past their bedtimes.
Ask for What You Want
Ask. More often than you’d suspect, the answer you’ll get is, “Sure.”
Dare To Take a Risk
Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted. And it can be the most valuable thing you have to offer.
Look for the Best In Everybody
I got this advice from Jon Snoddy, my hero at Disney Imagineering. “If you wait long enough,” he said, “people will surprise and impress you.” When you’re frustrated with people, when you’re angry, it may be because you haven’t given them enough time. Jon warned that this took great patience, even years. “In the end,” he said, “people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting. It will come out.”
Make Time for What Matters
Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think.
Let Kids Be Themselves
My job is to help my kids foster a joy for life and develop the tools to fulfill their own wishes. My wishes for them are very exact and, given that I won’t be there, I want to be clear: Kids, don’t try to figure out what I wanted you to become. I want you to become what you want to become. And I want you to feel as if I am there with you, whatever path you choose.
UPDATE (July 25, 2008): Randy Pausch passed away today. Say a prayer for his family, and hope that he is in a better place.
